The old saying is “Content is King.”  And there’s no doubt that Content HAS to be relevant and memorable to make people want to listen to you more today, or again tomorrow.

But Content isn’t “King,” PERFORMANCE is.  If you sound like a game show host, or have that “disc jockey delivery,” you’re becoming a Deejaysaurus Rex, an extinct species.

So a lot of the work I do, after simplifying the search for Content down to reflecting on what the listener actually CARES about each day, is just about Performance (read that as “Delivery”).

Here’s an easy guideline to follow: Is what you just said on the air something you’d say to your best friend?  Because if you talked to your best buddy like an “announcer,” he’d probably just look at you like “What is the matter with you?”

You want to project just enough so you “penetrate the mix,” meaning that someone can hear you in the car, with traffic around them.  But any more than that, you’re a cartoon.  I call this “Real plus ten percent.”  But an overwhelming majority of air talents are “Real plus fifty percent.”  I can spot those people in ONE break on an aircheck or a live “listen.”  And so can the listener.